It's a Complicated FourLetter Word
by Write Love Letters
Summary: Life is a challenge. No one gives you a handbook to guide you. Rather, you must make mistakes and make memories as life passes before their eyes. This is a collection of ficlets that center around the members of New Directions.


**Title**: It's a Complicated Four-Letter Word.  
**Fandom**: Glee  
**Characters**: Ensemble

_Life only, really, has one beginning and one end and the rest is just a whole lot of middle – Will Schuester _

I.

It's late at night – or early in the morning depending on how you looked at it – and Finn Hudson just cannot fall asleep. The digital numbers on his alarm clock glow in the darkness; showing him how much time has passed since he first attempted to fall asleep.

It's been three hours and seventeen minutes.

Not that he's counting or anything.

Across the basement, Finn can hear the snores coming from Kurt. The first time Finn had slept in his new room in his new house, he had got a kick out of waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of Kurt Hummel snoring loudly in his sleep.

Tonight, though, the snores are mocking him. Just like the clock.

II.

She's sitting on the metal bleachers – alone, like usual. Her brown hair is pulled into a neat ponytail and her teeth are worrying her bottom lip.

Quinn wonders how long she's been there with her eyes trained on the figures in the distance practicing pitching and hitting. The blonde makes a move to sit next to the brunette but stops mid-motion as her ears pick up the voice of an enraged cheerleading coach. Instead, she turns and goes back inside the school.

She's sitting in a classroom – alone, a book her only companion. Her blonde bangs are clipped back and her hand rests protectively on her seventh-month bump.

Rachel wonders how many times she's reread the same sentence, her mind focused on things other than the troubles of Piggy and Ralph. The brunette takes a small step over the classroom's threshold but before she can enter any further a slushie is thrown down her back. Soon, her body is shouldering open the door to the girl's bathroom.

III.

"It's one a.m. in the morning," Puck announces to dead silence.

"Thank you Noah for stating the obvious," Rachel counters with a roll of her eyes.

"This is bull Berry," he complains loudly.

"I assure you, _Noah_, that there is a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why we have been woken up at one a.m. in the morning and been asked to show up at this park."

"And that would be…" Puck grumbles as he attempts to hold back a yawn.

Rachel gestures to the blonde teen in front of them, "Ask Brittany. She's the one who texted us. "

IV.

They come face to face nine years later. Back in the town that holds one too many memories for both of them. She's in town for her yearly visit to her mother and stops at her favorite bakery craving a cinnamon roll.

"Quinn Fabray," the voice holds a bit of surprise.

"Shelby," her answer is quick yet whispered.

Neither moves. Neither makes a sound. There is pull between them, a pull for knowledge of whom they have lost. But, neither wants to acknowledge this loss so they remain still, silently urging the other to speak first.

Shelby answers the unasked. "She's turning nine next week."

Quinn remains silent. She knows who is turning nine. The knowledge of that day (those months) still haunts her.

"She's devoted to dancing and seems to have a hidden talent for cheering; a wonderful student and ever inquisitive. She – ah – she has," Shelby trails off. "She has a beautiful voice and looks just like her biological mother."

Quinn surreptitiously wipes at a falling tear before answering Shelby's silent pleas. "She's in New York, performing in the revival of _West Side Story_. She's Maria," Quinn treads carefully. Her devotion is to her best friend first and her best friend's mother second to last. But Quinn – and only Quinn – understands the need for information so she reveals just enough to let Shelby know that her daughter is happy. "She's getting married this month. He's a really great guy. He's the only guy for her. "

Shelby nods soaking up the information.

They part ways suddenly. There are no goodbyes, just a slight tilt of the head as Quinn orders two cinnamon rolls and Shelby gets into her car.

V.

Mercedes Jones stands in the doorway of a room crammed with historical memorabilia and a few nervous freshmen. A finger pokes her in the back.

"Scared, Mercy?" the voice asks.

Mercedes rounds on her older brother. "This ain't something to be scared of Hunter," she scoffs.

"You sure Mercy? Don't you remember the slushie facials and the dumpster trips I was telling you about," Hunter teases."Not to mention what the guys on the football team have planned for Freshman Friday."

"You're dumber than I thought if you think I'll actually let some stupid jock throw colored ice in my face."

"Whatever," Hunter shrugs, but he is smiling. "I'll catch ya later."

VI.

Rachel finds it first.

Second, Matt disputes. Mike saw it first.

Kurt instructs Mercedes to keep a lookout for it.

Santana discovers it quickly.

Tina points it out to Artie.

Quinn tells Puck who texts Finn.

And Brittany sees it because it's the only thing written in English.

Will Schuester smiles widely as he marks off a corner of his whiteboard and writes in the latest news about New Directions.

_Invitational is Friday at 6pm.  
Dress Rehearsal – 3:30pm.  
You guys… MAKE THE SETLIST._


End file.
